—Broken Wing—
The drive home from Gatlinburg, Tn., to my home in Alabama is about six hours. About four of them are interstate.
While on my way home, I noticed a car pulled over on the side of the interstate. The driver was standing beside the car with both his hands on his head and apparently watching an object on the road.
As I get closer, I can see the back “Spoiler” of his car lying in the middle of the interstate. I call them “Wings,” but they’re actually called “Spoilers.”
It had apparently fallen off, and the driver was Praying that nobody would run over it before he could get out there to get it.
It reminded me of the ’94 Camaro that I owned as a teenager.
Growing up, the guys either had a truck, Mustang, or a Camaro.
I had the Camaro. With T-Tops. I don’t think they make cars with T-tops anymore. I don’t see any.
One time, I was going to be getting on the interstate, so I took my T-tops out of the back storage compartment and locked them back into their spot on the roof of the car. I then got onto the interstate.
I had no more gotten my speed up to 40 mph when my driver-side T-top flies off the roof and way up into the air. I quickly pull over and jump out of the car. The top is still in the air at this point. That’s how quickly I pulled over and jumped out.
When the makers designed the T-tops, they obviously thought about this happening because I stood there and watched as the “Top” spun like a helicopter propeller and gently fell back to the ground. It landed softly into the grass on the side of the interstate.
I ran over, picked it up, and put it back on.
I realized I hadn’t “locked” it correctly, and I made sure to accurately lock it this time.
It never happened again. I digress, back to the “wing” in the middle of the interstate lane.
The Spoiler, or “wing,” is lying between the two lanes.
Half of it is in the fast lane, and the other half is in the slow lane.
The driver is now squatted down. He still has both his hands on his head.
You can tell that he is Praying that nobody will run over it.
I make sure and miss it as I drive by it.
I quickly look in my rearview mirror to see what the cars behind me are doing.
That’s when I see the two vehicles behind me are two semi-trucks—one in each lane.
That Spoiler didn’t have a chance.
I watch as both trucks run over the “Wing.”
Now, I couldn’t see the driver any longer.
I imagine he fell to his knees, though. Fell to his knees, hit the ground with his fists, and screamed, “Noooooooooooo!”
I imagine that’s what happened.
